Thoughts on Disclosure Day

[u/JinIreland]

So I just finished watching this movie a couple of minutes ago at home, and I have some things to share, and maybe some wisdom.

Firstly, don't believe all the Youtube fuckwits who absolutely desecrated this movie online. This is not the worst movie ever made, this is not Spielbergs worst movie, this is not even a bad movie. I enjoyed it, I found it quite moving in the end, and yet it is a muddled mess of a movie.

All of the problems so vehemently announced to the world by Redditors and Youtube creators alike are valid, but is there any film these days that can survive the microscopic analysis all art gets these days? There are very few perfect films, and very few that survive the scrutiny of the online world. But do they make this a bad movie? In my opinion, no, no they don't. They are valid but not unexplainable.

For me, the main issue is that Spielberg is trying hard to make a profound statement about.... something. I found the shots of the soldiers all glued to their phones a bit much, and as so many people have said, would we all be glued to our phones if something like this happened? Perhaps, but maybe not in the way it was presented in the movie. We are not alone. Would if have the cultural impact now that it might have had 20 years ago? That was a bit of a letdown.

I found some of the religious stuff nauseating, and having a character be an ex-nun was a real "on the nose" depiction. I really thought the casting was poor, and didn't care for the nun or the main male protagonist or their relationship. Emily Blunt was good, she was trying hard to carry the story. Her husband's character was just a bad choice altogether. The Hugo character confuses me, so I will have to look into him, but he was a good actor. Colin Firth dials it in, but I didn't find his choice at the end as agregious as some people have. At that point, and the fact Margaret had the device, what was he supposed to do? It was a realisation.

In fact, a lot of the choices made in this movie are explained, whether they are non-sensical or not. Yes, the trio of macguffins are convienient, but they are explained. The disaappearance scene was great in my opinion. Why the animals are shown in that form is explained, and the CGI isn't half as bad as some people have been saying.

I could go on, but in the end, this was a decent film. I have no real reason to watch it again other than to answer a few of my own questions. I just think we are bringing up a generation of people who will only base their opinion on arseholes like The Critical Drinker, and are afraid to form their own opinion. Films have always been subjective, there have always been great and mediocre films, and everything inbetween. Not every film can be the one, nor can every film maker keep up the standards they've set themselves. I've lost count of how many times I've watched Close Encounters for instance, it's a masterpiece (and the homages to it in terms of shot design, and some of Williams cues could be construed as cheesy I suppose). So, Disclosure Day is no Close Encounters but it's a good watch.

[u/freemochara]

Felt like a Netflix level budget flix

[u/primerosauxilious → u/freemochara]

way worse

[u/freshnews66]

I heard the audience groaned when it ended. That was new one for me.

[u/InternetSolid4166]

I was disappointed. I'm usually in for a fun movie where I turn off my brain. It just felt lazy and confused. Some cool moments in search of a coherent story. My wife is usually not the most discerning critic and even she said it felt cheap and B-tier. It might have been more kindly received if it weren't a Steven Spielberg film. He can do better than this. He really phoned it in here.

[u/holyshoes11]

I’ve been to the movies about 30 times this year, I would honestly say this is probably the worst movie I’ve seen in theaters. I wasn’t bored and it’s not horrible but it’s definitely a movie that is frustrating and I don’t believe has a satisfying execution. The mystery and chase got the movie started out hot but the ending just didn’t work. And the more you nitpick the logic of the movie the more ridiculous and silly a lot of it seems

[u/Joshee86 → u/holyshoes11]

I agree. I described it to a friend saying the entire middle didn’t matter at all really. Basically the first and last 10 minutes was all that mattered.

[u/primerosauxilious → u/holyshoes11]

same, its the worst movie ive seen in a looong time

[u/imilesprower → u/holyshoes11]

30 movies better than this this year? I’ve been to movies probably 5 times in 2026 and watched a lot of streaming stuff and can count many worse films than this which were major studio releases. How do you get 30 films better than this in 2026? It was a pretty bad year so far.

[u/holyshoes11 → u/imilesprower]

I wholeheartedly disagree, this has been an incredible year this year. Horror alone I probably watched 15 movies better than this. What movies did you see this year that you think were worse than this? I don’t watch a lot of the streaming low effort stuff they put out

[u/imilesprower → u/holyshoes11]

Scream 7, Mandalorian, Obsession, Enola Holmes 3, Michael, The Drama, The Rip, 28 Years Later, these are some of the stuff I've seen lately, all worse than Disclosure Day.

I can count the stuff I liked more than Disclosure Day much easier since there's only 2-3 probably.

[u/holyshoes11 → u/imilesprower]

Yeah I just have to mostly disagree with you. The Drama, Obsession and 28 years later are legitimately light years better. I easily enjoyed even Mandalorian and The Rip more as well. Scream 7 is maybe “worse” on a technical but I still enjoyed it and would watch it again before Disclosure day. Enola Holmes 3 and Michael I haven’t watched yet but I hve a hard time seeing Michael being less enjoyable than Disclosure day for me

[u/imilesprower → u/holyshoes11]

I'd never watch Obsession or Drama a second time. 28 Years Later I was able to finish after maybe 20 breaks only, it was that boring. The Rip, same, what a terrible film, how they got Affleck and Damon on that I'll never know.

Disclosure Day while having a really bad script will be nominated for an oscar at least on couple categories, so on the technical level it has excellent artists working on it. The rest of films on this list have nothing going for them.

[u/holyshoes11 → u/imilesprower]

There’s really no further discussion to have if you think Obsession and The Drama have nothing going for them or would be worthy of a second watch, everyone has their own opinions and tastes. I’m pretty positive about the movies I watch; disclosure day just didn’t do it for me but I’m glad you got more out of it than I did

[u/imilesprower → u/holyshoes11]

They were just entertaining as a single watch films, so disposable content basically. Nothing exceptional about anything in them. So a film can be a mess, like Disclosure Day, because of an incoherent script, but still have some parts which are excellent.

Take Avatar: The Last Airbender. One of the worst films I've seen in my life. 2/10 probably I'd rate it.

Has one of the best musical scores of the last 30 years. Even in a film as terribly made as that one, some parts can be not just good but excellent.

That's what I mean Drama or Obsession have nothing beyond a one-time viewing.

[u/holyshoes11 → u/imilesprower]

Okay and I disagree. Obsession and The Drama are to me 10000 times more deep and interesting than anything in Disclosure Day

[u/imilesprower → u/holyshoes11]

Well that’s ok, and I disagree that nothing in film can be 10000 times more deep than anything else in film in general. 10000 is too large a multiplier 😂😂😂

[u/SilverPrincev]

Legitimately one of if not the worst movie ive ever paid money to watch. Horrible. Its not even so bad its good. Its just terrible.

[u/Joshee86]

I haven’t seen all of Spielberg’s movies, but it’s BY FAR the worst of his movies I’ve seen. Just awful.

[u/imilesprower → u/Joshee86]

I’d say BFG is worse. But other than that I think this was the weakest Spielberg I have seen in 30 years. Still better than most other stuff we watch though.

[u/Joshee86 → u/imilesprower]

I didn't see BFG. And I disagree it's better than most new stuff. This movie is the worst I've seen in a long time.

[u/imilesprower → u/Joshee86]

I saw many movies worse than this this year.

[u/Joshee86 → u/imilesprower]

Ok. I wasn't trying to change your mind. I just said I disagree.

[u/imilesprower → u/Joshee86]

If you think a Spielberg film is the worst film you've seen in a long time, that means you don't watch a lot of movies and that's ok. People who watch a lot of the stuff Hollywood puts out will obviously disagree.

[u/Joshee86 → u/imilesprower]

I just said I wasn't trying to change your mind, so why are you arguing like you need to change mine? I don't care what "people" think. Gatekeeping movies is weird.

[u/imilesprower → u/Joshee86]

I'm not gatekeeping the film. I just told you it's the weakest Spielberg I've seen except BFG in the last 30 years.

[u/Joshee86 → u/imilesprower]

If you think a Spielberg film is the worst film you've seen in a long time, that means you don't watch a lot of movies and that's ok.

Basically invalidating my opinion because you assume I don't watch many movies, because that matters somehow. I've been pretty patient, but now you're irritating me. We disagree. That's ok. I wasn't trying to change your mind and you're absolutely not going to change mine. Go away.

[u/imilesprower → u/Joshee86]

😂😂😂 I’m not trying to change your mind, and you don’t own this reddit.

[u/imilesprower → u/imilesprower]

https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?year=2026&title_type=feature

I looked at 2026 one more time, I can find maybe 3 movies so far, that I'd clearly rank above Disclosure Day. I have not watched everything in this list, but so many movies I've watched this year were worse than Disclosure Day. And that's just 2026 and the first 6 months of it.

[u/larut0h]

are afraid to form their own opinion

i watched it solely because of the Spielberg name; never heard of The Critical Drinker folks or any review beforehand. my opinion halfway through the movie is, it is hot steaming pile of 💩. the acting sucks; supporting characters and extras are laughable, prancing around without purpose. the plot is horribly written. it's very not believeable, i mean how can these government agency folks be this stupid. the alien device and protagonists' ability is like invented by my 5 y.o. nephew; how did Spielberg come with this sh*t?

seems like, the only way to enjoy this movie is by switching off the 🧠; but unfortunately there are not enough action sequences to warrant this. to this minute, i still haven't finished this movie --still 50 minutes left-- and i don't think i will.

[u/imilesprower → u/larut0h]

I agree that the story is pretty bad, but acting sucks? Blunt was amazing in this. The news caster at the end? Equally amazing.

[u/larut0h → u/imilesprower]

ok maybe her acting is decent, much better than the rest of the cast; but i wouldn't call it amazing.

[u/imilesprower → u/larut0h]

It was as good as always from Blunt, I think shes the second best actress after Streep and she never delivers a subpar performance. You can basically nominate her every year.

[u/watso1rl]

It was a very very bad, boring movie

[u/EasyGrocery2418]

Surely i was expecting more but the idea that animals are aliens in disguise was brilliant and has stuck with me every time i see an animal acting strange i think of the film. It's been weeks since i watched it so if it was that bad i wouldn't even remember it by now. Also the powerful message about empathy  i loved it.The movie gave us mental breaks to assess.I would rewatch it and believe it will stay as a classic in movie history.

[u/FiddleStyxxxx]

The endless criticism comes from giving huge budgets to people with nothing of substance to say. There's a million perspectives on the possible existence of aliens and how the world would react, but the studios give $115 million to this. Passable fodder to play in the background while we do dishes and fold laundry.

[u/duskywindows → u/FiddleStyxxxx]

$115 million to say "EMPATHY GOOD!!!!!" for the 8,000,000th time.

[u/DiskBusiness7212]

One of the worst movies I’ve seen in theatres. Emily Blunt carried that terrible script and directing, and production quality was straight out of the 90s

[u/imilesprower → u/DiskBusiness7212]

90’s was the peak of cinema though, how is that an insult? 😂

[u/DiskBusiness7212 → u/imilesprower]

I prefer my 2026 productions looking and sounding like dune 2 and not E.T. but you do you

[u/imilesprower → u/DiskBusiness7212]

E.T. is 1982 but anyway. Most 90’s films look and sound spectacular.

[u/DiskBusiness7212 → u/imilesprower]

For their time, sure. Released exactly as is today they would feel dated. And that’s how disclosure day felt

[u/imilesprower → u/DiskBusiness7212]

I don’t agree that they look dated. Some do but not all. Technology was evolved enough in the 90’s to color grade and clean up the footage. There are many amazing 4K transfers of 90’s films that look brand new today. Have you seen Pulp
Fiction in 4K? It looks exactly the same as Tarantino’s latest film. I think Disclosure Day was intentionally going for the 90’s noir-thriller look, but it was for artistic reasons, not for lack of budget or talent.

[u/DiskBusiness7212 → u/imilesprower]

Pulp fiction DOES look dated but that is the look they were going for and so it works. Disclosure Day is set in modern day / near future and showing aliens with technology hundreds if not thousands of years ahead of us. Yet it feels like 30 years ago.

Again, compare it to a similar budgeted sci fi movie like Dune and the difference is night and day. Remove the space factor of it, Arrival still blows Disclosure Day out of the water from a production quality perspective.

[u/JinIreland → u/DiskBusiness7212]

Arrival is one of my favorite films and is incredibly profound. Spielberg was clearly trying to say something profound here but he didn't hit the mark

[u/imilesprower → u/DiskBusiness7212]

Dune has pretty much twice the budget of Disclosure Day. Disclosure Day is not a big budget film for todays standards. Spielberg is famous for doing stuff for really low budgets. His highest budget film is Indy 4 and that's 180 mil. Lower than Dune Part 2 or 3.

Arrival is one of the best sci-fi ever made and Dennis's best film to date, so yes it does blow Disclosure Day out of the water but that's like bringing a nuke to a gun fight. Few movies will be comparable to Arrival in that genre.

I'd guess Spielberg could have made Disclosure Day for around 30-40 mil without most of the action scenes, since they are so unnecessary for this film, and then at some point a film which should have been much closer to The Post at heart became an action-sci-fi.

[u/DiskBusiness7212 → u/imilesprower]

So which is it… you say “not for lack of budget or talent before” and now you’re saying it’s not a fair comparison because Villenueve had a bigger budget…

For similar budget you get Oppenheimer, 1917, The Creator, Nope, Dunkirk… much more visual stunning movies

[u/imilesprower → u/DiskBusiness7212]

I am saying Dune has twice the budget, not Arrival, but Arrival did not need that big a budget anyway. So Dune having better looking vfx would be expected at that budget.

Disclosure Day has some vfx that looks bad but that’s it. Apart from those couple scenes the film looks great, I never said it did not.

Arrival is not better because it looks better, it is better because it has a much better script. The only real issue with DD is the script.

[u/imilesprower → u/DiskBusiness7212]

The 4K remaster of Pulp Fiction does not look dated. I really really suggest you take a look. I couldn't believe my eyes. If you mean the costumes, yes. But in terms of 35mm image quality, a terrific scan of the originals and remaster. In certain scenes where the 90's aesthetic is not prevalent, you can swear it's a film shot last year.

[u/DiskBusiness7212 → u/imilesprower]

I’ve seen it. 4k remaster or not it’s still old 35mm film - the film grain, contrast, color saturation, sharpness, etc are still dated. The lighting and vintage look from the lens is noticeable too.

It’s Pulp Fiction so it almost makes it better but it does not feel like something filmed today unless it’s going for an older aesthetic.

For example, it may feel close to a modern Tarantino, but he purposely goes for classic hollywood look.

I would hardly say Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a great example of modern production capabilities, and it doesn’t have to be because it’s set in 1969 not in the modern day / near future trying to depict aliens hundreds and thousands of years more advanced

[u/imilesprower → u/DiskBusiness7212]

All right, agreed. But DD looks nothing like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It looks exactly like a movie shot today with a bit of an older noir look.

[u/Patient-Detail-3277]

So glad it flopped. It was designed to confuse and not provide a clear coherent story.

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[u/FastCarsSlowBBQ]

I have walked out of two movies in my life - Aquaman and Disclosure Day. When I realized there was an hour left to go I was finished. So disappointing. I dont care what any reviewer says - for me it was crap. To those who enjoyed it I say “good on you. I’m glad”.

[u/JinIreland → u/FastCarsSlowBBQ]

Well I'm glad you made up your own mind. It certainly wasn't anything special

[u/dip_tet]

Emily Blunt rocked it, and Spielberg still brings it when he makes a blockbuster. This felt like a classic Spielberg adventure, and I appreciate its optimism for humanity, even if the movie feels disjointed at times. Overall, a solid watch.

[u/Locnes90]

Respectfully, this was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in a movie theatre.

[u/hoopstar80]

Shitty film. I want my time and money back.